George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third title in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers of the American League. He was the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues. His 2,194 career wins are the sixth most for a manager in Major League history. He was named American League Manager of the Year in 1984 and 1987. Anderson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Anderson was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota, on February 22, 1934. He moved to Los Angeles when he was eight. He was a batboy for the USC Trojans. He attended Susan Miller Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, California. Upon graduating, he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1953. Sparky's American Legion Team won the 1951 National Championship, which was played in Briggs Stadium (Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

Anderson began his playing career with the Santa Barbara Dodgers of the class-C California League, where he was primarily used as a shortstop. In 1954, he was moved up to the class-A Pueblo Dodgers of the Western League and was moved to second base, where he played the rest of his career.

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club, following illegitimate expulsion from the National League in 1880, was re-established in the following season as a charter member of the American Association in 1882. Cincinnati would go on to (re)join the National League in 1890.

The Reds have won five World Series titles, one American Association pennant, nine National League pennants and nine division titles. The Reds played in the National League West between 1969 and 1993 and since 1994 in the National League Central.

Since 2003, the Reds have played at Great American Ball Park, built next to their home from 1970, Riverfront Stadium. Bob Castellini has owned the Cincinnati Reds since 2006.

The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds can be traced to the unlawful expulsion of an earlier Reds team. In 1876, Cincinnati became one of the charter members of the new National League, but the club ran afoul of league organizer and long-time president William Hulbert for selling beer at the ballpark and playing games on Sunday, both important activities to entice the city's large German population. While Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was actually against league rules in those early years. On October 6, 1880, however, seven of the eight team owners pledged at a special league meeting to formally ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting that December. Only Cincinnati president W.H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, so the other owners illegally banned Cincinnati for 'violating' a rule that would not actually go into effect for two more months.

Johnny Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Bench, a 14-time All-Star selection and a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, was a key member of The Big Red Machine, which won six division titles, four National League pennants, and two World Series championships. ESPN has called him the greatest catcher in baseball history.

Bench played baseball and basketball and was class valedictorian at Binger High School in Binger, Oklahoma. He is one-eighth Native American (Choctaw). His father told him that the fastest route to becoming a major leaguer was as a catcher. Bench was drafted 36th overall by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 1965 amateur draft, playing for the minor-league Buffalo Bisons in the 1966 and 1967 seasons before being called up to the Reds in August 1967. He hit only .163, but impressed many with his defense and strong throwing arm. Among them: Hall of Famer Ted Williams. Williams signed a baseball for him which predicted that the young catcher would be "A Hall of Famer for sure!" Williams' prediction eventually became fact with Johnny Bench's election to the Hall of Fame in 1989.

Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and its various adaptations. The character is a villainous pirate captain of the Jolly Roger brig, and lord of the pirate village/harbour in Neverland, where he is widely feared. Most importantly, he is the archenemy of Peter Pan. It is said that Hook was Blackbeard's boatswain, and that he was the only man Long John Silver ever feared. His only two fears are the sight of his own blood (which is supposedly an unnatural colour) and one fateful crocodile.

Hook wears a big iron hook in place of his right hand, which was cut off by Peter Pan and eaten by a saltwater crocodile, who liked the taste so much that she follows Hook around constantly, hoping for more. Luckily for Hook, the crocodile also swallowed a clock, so Hook can tell from the ticking when she is near. Hook hates Peter obsessively due to his cockiness (and the removing of his hand), as well as the way he always seems to have "good form" without trying or even realizing, which is the best "form" of all, and lives for the day he can make Peter and all his Lost Boys walk the plank.

Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former Major League Baseball player and current manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. As a player, Gibson was an outfielder who batted and threw left-handed. He spent most of his career with the Detroit Tigers but also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gibson is best known for a home run he hit off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, during his time with the Dodgers. He was named the National League MVP in 1988. He is the only MVP winner never to appear on an All-Star roster since the advent of the All-Star Game. He was named to the team twice, in 1985 and 1988, but declined the invitation both times. He announced his retirement from baseball in August 1995.

Following his retirement as a player, he spent five seasons as a television analyst in Detroit, then became a coach for the Tigers in 2003. He became the Diamondbacks' bench coach in 2007, and was promoted to interim manager in 2010 following the midseason dismissal of A. J. Hinch. On October 4, 2010, the Diamondbacks removed the "interim" label, naming Gibson their manager for the 2011 season.